Jots, Tittles and Minutiae

Matthew 5:18,19

"For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" 

Keeping God’s word and being a Christian can at times be an exacting thing. Jesus Himself stressed, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Mt. 4:4). Yet, it is obvious from Jesus’ teachings that detail to law could also be perilous. He states to the scribes and Pharisees of the day, “For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. (Mt.23:23).” The former what is right, the latter is what we refer to as legalistic.

How do we distinguish between the two? 

How can I know when I’m doing what is right, versus times when I’m straining a gnat? One could argue that if I adhere to what the scripture says down to the finest minutiae, then I know I’m right.  This is true. Instructions are there to be followed.  Ignoring the instructions causes problems. When we do things God's way, good results come. When we ignore the instructions, we do so at peril of costly failure. The price of failure is often seemingly out of all proportion to the mistake made. There is an old proverb, "For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; for want of a horse the message was lost; for want of a message, the battle was lost -- all for the want of a nail."

God also expects us to understand the nature and purpose of His commands 

Yet, God also expects us to understand the nature and purpose of His commands. They are not arbitrarily chosen statutes given to demand servitude.  Submission to God is the expression of our love for and faith in him. It must not be accompanied by the belief that obedience places God in our debt or makes us righteous. Nevertheless, it must be genuine and as complete as we can make it.  Fractures and fissures in our obedience do not excuse us from doing what the scriptures say.  Paul reminds us “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? (Rom.6:1, 2)” I must change what I can, when I can. Yet, neither am I to live under the constant worry of whether I have not completed the smallest thing, or paid the “uttermost farthing.” Paul again reminds us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” (Rom.3:23,24).

Jesus was not righteous because he obeyed God. Rather, he obeyed God because he was righteous. So must we.  I strive to be righteous, thus I strive with all of my heart to obey God to the utmost. I will fall short! But, if I am granted the grace of another day, then I resolve that tomorrow I will do better. 

Jim 

"Dreamer Joe"

"You meant to do me harm, but God meant it for good -so that it would come about as it is today, with many people's lives being saved."

Gen 50:20

We do not often think about the impacts that we or our circumstances have on the lives of others. Nor do we often consider what God has in mind when we do certain things. The classic story related in Genesis of Joseph, is one that under circumstances today would embitter some. He was sold into slavery by jealous brothers and thrown into prison on false charges. His rights trampled, his feelings neglected, his opinions shunned and then everyone going about calling him a dreamer. It is amazing that Joseph was able to go through all of this, yet remained free of bitterness or regret. Yet, many today cannot discuss life, their situation, reveal their feelings about race or it seems feel anything without someone saying something, trouncing on us, or putting us down.

What enabled Joseph to do this? Behind even the worst of circumstances. Joseph was able to see the hand of God. Now, this doesn't mean that he liked going through any of these things. But it is interesting in the last chapter of Genesis and in a final confrontation with his brothers, he graciously notes, “You meant it for bad; God meant it for good.”

What then can we learn from Joseph, that can help us in our own lives?

1. Learn to appreciate what you have and quit lusting for what you don't have. Paul wrote Timothy, "But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.(1 Tim.6:6 NASB)." Paul himself, learned this principle (Ph'p.4:11-13), and learned the valuable lesson, that in Christ we can do many things, if we let Him be our sufficiency.
2. You can accept the past. No sin, no action, no choice on your part is too big for God to handle (1 Jn.1:9). Just ask Joseph! Better yet, ask his brothers who ended up relying on him for their survival. Bitterness can chain you to the past if you let it. Let go of your sin, let go of your past and give them to God. Joseph did.
3. Embrace the present. There’s no need to play a “what if” game. The future is in God’s hands; so you’re free to focus on the present. The present is where God's grace is, the present is where we can deal with what is before us. I cannot fix the past, nor can I change the future. I can only deal with NOW.
4. Learn to look expectantly toward the future. God controls your future, and by walking in the Spirit, you can live life to the fullest, without fear. Even when things appear to be dark, you can trust that God is still working out His plan for your life. Job learned this "I had heard about you with my ears, but now my eye sees you; therefore I detest [myself] and repent in dust and ashes (Job.42:5,6)." When we know God, and we walk by His Spirit, the future is always before me.
5. Learn to trust. Paul wrote to the Romans, "Furthermore, we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called in accordance with his purpose (Rom.8:28)." God can take care of the past, handle the present, and create the future. Why then would I not trust Him?

Jim

God had it right all along!

God had it right all along!

Daniel Dennett, is one of the ’4 Horsemen’ of what is called the New Atheism. He recently delivered a lecture on a post-religious world. He outlined his ‘end of religion’ thesis and his vision of a (better) world free of its restrictions, guilt, irrationality, hypocrisy, and xenophobic hatreds. What became interesting, is while proclaiming with utter certainty the end of all religion, is a very religious atheist indeed. As his lecture continued, his statement sounded more and more like listening to a rather optimistic, naive, kind-hearted yet legalistic preacher. Here are some of the highlights of his talk:

• Moral Behavior: the entire thrust of his talk was an exhortation to good and decent and moral behavior. These are the sorts of values that should shape our behavior and our world, let’s commit to and work for them.
• Note from Jim GOD SAID - Lev 19:18; Mt.22:39 "Don't take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself"
• Mission: he talked of the need to build a missionary movement. Let’s take the secular good news out to the world and make it a better place. His closing words were ‘Let’s do it’. The good news bit was negative – the end of all religion.
• Note from Jim GOD SAID - Matt 28:19,20 "Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world."
• Worship: he wanted to inspire us with hymns and get us emotionally inspired, excited, joyful and happy.
• Note from Jim GOD SAID - Eph 5:19 "When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart."
• Community: Dennett offered the vision of democratic networks emerging of people working towards a common vision of improving the world. He even suggested that this new atheist movement might consider buying defunct churches in which to meet (he didn’t say what they would do there. Sing atheist songs?).
• Note from Jim GOD SAID Act 20:7 "On the first day of the week we met to break bread together."
• Eschatological Hope: his whole lecture was built around a narrative of hope – a future vision of a better world (without religion) to inspire us to work passionately in the here and now to bring it about.
• Note from Jim - GOD SAID Gal 5:5 "For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness."
• Doctrine of Man: Dennett has great faith in humankind. He asserted (while also describing himself as an ‘objective engineer’ of the human consciousness) that ‘People just want to be good.’ Wow.
• Note from Jim - GOD SAID Pro 20:24 "Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way? "

The above is recorded by Patrick Mitchell in Ireland on his Blog - FaithInIreland (with the exception of the GOD SAID portions inserted by yours truly). I thought it amusing that here is an atheist (someone who denies the existence of God), extolling the values and principles that Christianity has been promoting for more than 2000 years and the Bible since the beginning of man. Seems like God had it right all along!

"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful;

but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."

Rom 1:21

Jim